Bios

Palestinian Jerusalemites have made myriad and diverse contributions to their city’s history and community fabric. Here we profile some of those people—past and present; famous and obscure—whose lives and work and stories have helped shape the larger Jerusalem Story over time.

Find alphabetically by first letter of last name

Education Husni al-Ashhab

A notable Palestinian educator who worked tirelessly to preserve the Arab curriculum in East Jerusalem after 1967

Who Are the Palestinians of Jerusalem? Sama Aweidah

A renowned Palestinian women’s rights activist

Hanan Awwad

An academic and prolific author who believed that poetry was a way to bring about change, give a voice to Palestinians, and promote peace

Culture, Art, and Heritage Jamal Badran

One of Palestine’s foremost visual artists, sculptors, and calligraphers who also the restored al-Aqsa Mosque’s precious Islamic art after an arson

Culture, Art, and Heritage Khalil Beidas

An influential scholar, educator, journalist, and author and a prolific translator of Russian literature into Arabic

Culture, Art, and Heritage Nahil Bishara

One of the few female artists who depicted Jerusalem in the mid-20th century

Culture, Art, and Heritage Issa Boullata

An accomplished scholar of Arabic and Islamic studies and award-winning translator who traced his creative talent to his Jerusalem childhood

Culture, Art, and Heritage Kamal Boullata

A renowned Jerusalemite artist and art historian who was exiled in 1967 and spent the rest of his life creating art that would convey, and lead him back to, the city of his birth

Fatima Budeiri

An Arabic-language teacher and media personality who became the first Palestinian woman to work as a radio broadcaster

Health and Health Care Tawfiq Canaan

An epidemiologist, ethnographer, and institution builder who made foundational contributions to medicine and health care in Jerusalem and Palestine

Henry Cattan

A Jerusalemite jurist and lawyer who wrote widely on the status of Jerusalem and the Palestinian claim to Palestine

Hassan Sidqi al-Dajani

A prominent politician, lawyer, and journalist whose political views and activism led to his assassination during a turbulent time in Palestine’s history